Media Player Ratings- Cardiff v West Ham

West Ham’s struggles on the road continued as they slumped to a shock 2-0 defeat at the hands of Cardiff City over the weekend. The Jekyll and Hyde nature of Manuel Pellegrini’s team this season has seen them take points off Arsenal, Man Utd, Chelsea and Liverpool at home, and yet lose to the likes of Cardiff and Burnley on the road.

The Hammers boss opted to keep faith with the same lineup that had done a league double over Newcastle last weekend- the only change came on the bench, where Paraguayan defender Fabian Balbuena returned to the squad, with Lucas Perez dropping out.

This was as bad a Hammers performance as you’d see- very few players emerged with any kind of credit from the game. Things were so poor that Pellegrini made all three of his substitutions before the hour mark, and that’s not happened in any West Ham game this season. Even Felipe Anderson wasn’t spared- the general thought was that the Brazilian must have had a niggle when he was hooked at half time for Arnautovic, but Pellegrini confirmed in his post match presser that the change was “tactical”.

Even Michail Antonio and Samir Nasri, the other two subs introduced, were unable to bring about a change in the Hammers fortunes. The visitors dominated possession, but had very little to show for it apart from Declan Rice hitting the woodwork and Arnautovic stinging the palms of Neil Etheridge. Etheridge has made the second most saves in the Premier League this season (behind Fabianski!), but had a relatively easy afternoon. Cardiff had lost 5-1 and 3-0 at home to Watford and Everton respectively before this game and there were rumours of infighting within the camp, bu again got a result when they needed it the most.

The Bluebirds were niggly and physical, and the Hammers simply failed to cope with it.

Let’s take a look at how the papers rated the West Ham players- Rice and Fabianski the best of a bad lot, one has to say.